Hungarians protest antisemitism

BUDAPEST — About 120 Hungarians donned paper yellow stars with the word “Jude” (“Jew” in German) written on them and lined up on the bank of the Danube in downtown Budapest to protest recent antisemitic and racist incidents in Hungary.

Local media said the June 7 demonstration was a flash mob organized on Facebook.

The protesters staged the demonstration outside the building containing offices of parliament members.

The state news agency MTI said several demonstrators told its correspondent that even though the Hungarian government had stated that it intends to protect Jewish Hungarians, concrete steps, rather than words, were needed.

One example, they were quoted as saying, would be for the government to back down on including openly antisemitic authors in the national school curriculum.

Earlier this week, the government pledged action after an unknown man swore at an elderly retired chief rabbi and shouted that he hated “all Jews.”

The government said it would do “everything in its power to combat words and actions that are incompatible with European norms.”

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